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Tuesday, March 11, 2014

I am taking Monica Lee's Smart Creative Style class and I am just getting blown away. In the course you really discover WHO you are and WHAT you like. As an artist, I love everything! I have enthusiasm for every style of painting and every subject.

Anyway, so I used to think I liked to paint pretty things.

But now I know it is so much more than that.

I want to paint romance, tenderness, bliss, and gratitude.

...but how do you do that?

I am in between a lot of commission projects right now. Totally awesome; no complaints here! But I had to take a moment and just flow with some good ole' inspiration.

I knew I wanted a mermaid. But as I looked at all of the beautiful illustrations of mermaids I felt so sad. All of the girls want to be human. They long for feet and dancing. But don't they realize that there are girls with feet that daydream of having fins? Why weren't there any mermaids that we HAPPY to be where they were. And then I knew: my mermaid had to be delighted with exactly where she was.

And when I think deeper about it, don't we all? There is so much to be sad about and yearn for, but what God has blessed us with in this very moment is something to be thankful for.

Isn't she just too cute? This is how I would be if I were a mermaid for a day! I would delight in the present!

It is so easy to be annoyed or displeased with your current place in life. My six year old son broke his leg on January 2nd and is STILL in a cast. For a couple weeks I was pretty bitter about it. It has not been easy. But there were lots of things to be thankful for. He could have gotten hurt much worse, he could be in cast longer, and so on.

So instead of being like these gorgeous and sad mermaids, just be gorgeous and happy!

Sunday, March 9, 2014

I love how all of the colors really go well together. There's a lot of blue, turquoise, pink, purple, and green, and dashes of yellow. Even some of Pantone's Radiant Orchid! This sofa is so adorable. I wish I could have this in turquoise for my house! It is the Charlotte Sofa from Urban Outfitters.

This blue pattern makes me so happy! I really wanted to do a loose pattern painting. Of course I had to add a collection of flowers to the bottom ;)

This watercolor painting is made up of dahlias. Oh, I love the patterns and variations of dahlias. They can be perfectly round with intricate pattern, they can get loose but still keep the design, or they can just go wild and let loose.

I am in looooove with the flowers on this peony painting! It is matched up with another Urban Outfitter piece--the Plum & Bow Callin Daybed.

I just love Louisa May Alcott. This quote really touches me because sometimes things DO happen in storybook fashion. I have realized that when I try to make up stories for my kids. I will tell them a real story, but when I tell it, oh, how beautiful life sounds. God is so good.

The Spring Reader. So many people love The Reader in fall colors. I knew I had to do a fresh Spring version.

Friends... Oh how dear the true ones are. No matter how stormy life can get, when you are together there is always sunshine and fun to be had.

The Mother and Child. My babies are all grown up (ha ha...not really! 3 & 6 but definitely not babies). I miss these tender moments of motherhood.

Sisters. Need I say more? But honestly, this could be sisters or friends. There is something so special about the comfort and closeness with female companionship.

I have another painting I just did that fits in perfectly with this line, but I think it deserves its own post. It's that special to me. Overall, I am really excited about these new paintings. The ones I have done prior had more reds and these have a light pink tone to them. But alas, us females always like to change things up!

Saturday, January 18, 2014

I ordered 100 Mini Moo cards from moo.com when I first decided to start sell my paintings. They had a fabulous offer going on at the time. They are so cute. I was able to put one of my paintings on the back and information on the front. I like them because they are printed on really thick cardstock and feel beautiful--the finish on them makes them feel soft and lovely.

When I ran out, I decided to try Overnight Prints. I wanted to make them a little more neutral so they could coordinate with all of my paintings when I ship them in the mail. Here's the finished product!

I purchased the value business cards and they are printed on a nice cardstock. I thought it was really great quality for the price. I also tried Vista Print and I think that was a waste of money.You could see all the pixelation and my image was not clear, whereas Overnight was clear and had no pixelation. Overnight Prints is affordable, high quality, with lots of options for upgrades like rounded corners and premium papers!

That is also one of my newest floral paintings in the background! Prints are available in the shop.

This shows what the front and back look like:

And a size comparison between the Mini Moo card and the basic Overnight Prints card: